Nuclear Waste in Central Huron

The nuclear waste management organization (NWMO) is planning on having a deep geological repository (DGR) for the nuclear waste in Canada. Central Huron is one of the places where the DGR could possibly happen.

NWMO's plan for the DGR is to have fuel bundles placed in close-fitting steel containers, encased in containers of copper, then into Bentonite clay, and finally buried in the ground.

There is also a plan for a second DGR that is intended to hold low and intermediate level waste, as opposed to the high level waste that will go in the national DGR. This second DGR has, for half a dozen years, been being planned by Ontario Power Generation just a few hundred metres from the Bruce Power reactors near the town of Kincardine.

On The Municipality Of Kincardine website, it states that the possibility of a DGR in Kincardine has been being planned since 2013. So far there hasn't been any news about it being cancelled.

Michael Krizanc, communication manager at NWMO, mentioned via email about how the nuclear waste is currently being stored at the nuclear reactor sites where it's produced. These sites are at the Pickering, Darlington, and Bruce nuclear generating stations.

"What they are doing I think is the right thing to do," said Jim Ginn, Mayor of Central Huron. "We have all this nuclear waste sitting basically in a warehouse on the shores of Lake Huron. I don't consider that to be secure. If that building was ever hit by a tornado, who knows what might happen to all the stuff in storage."

Paul Austin, Relationship Manager for NWMO Southern Ontario, said via email that the long-term management plan for the nuclear waste is to design and construct a DGR that will provide man-made and natural barriers to isolate and contain the waste for hundreds of thousands of years. As well, the nuclear waste is more radioactive when its first removed from a reactor. Then, after 10 years of cooling at the reactor site, more than 99% of the radioactivity decays away.

"The reason I vote against it is I just think that in a country as big as Canada it's just not a wise move to put it in the most productive food producing area in the entire country," said Ginn. "Just in case there's ever an accident. Even though the risk is low, it's not zero."

According to The Globe And Mail, money that will be spent on the project will likely run as high as $24 billion. But, at the moment this fund only stands at less than $3 billion. But, even with this estimated price, power projects can still go over budget. When the Ontario’s Darlington facility was being built during the 1980s, the cost climbed from a projected $3.9 billion to more than $14 billion.

Michael Krizanc said via email that the planning, development and implementation of the project is funded by the major owners of used nuclear fuel in Canada: Ontario Power Generation, NB Power, Hydro-Québec and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. If the estimated cost does exceed the amount of funds given, the nuclear waste owners are responsible for the additional costs.

The Globe And Mail states that the site for the national DGR can’t be too remote. It must be accessible by roads and rail, so that waste can be brought in, and the surrounding area must have a sufficient population. There has to be a sufficient population for the thousands of people who will build the facility, and the hundreds who will be employed there long-term will have a place to live with a large town nearby.

Michael Krizanc also mentions that NWMO predicts that it may take 10 years or more before a specific site can be proposed.